Background

During 2011, the IFRS Interpretations Committee considered a constituent request to clarify the meaning of the term 'consumption of the expected future economic benefits embodied in the asset' when determining the appropriate amortisation method. The Committee came to the conclusion to recommend to the IASB to amend IAS 16 Property, Plant and Equipment and IAS 38 Intangible Assets to clarify that a revenue-based method is not considered to be an appropriate manifestation of consumption.

The IASB published Exposure Draft ED/2012/5 Clarification of Acceptable Methods of Depreciation and Amortisation (Proposed Amendments to IAS 16 and IAS 38) following the Interpretations Committee's recommendation on 4 December 2012. However, the ED proposed in the Basis for Conclusions that there would be limited circumstances in which a revenue-based method gave the same result as a 'units of production' method. As constituents perceived this statement to be contradictory with the proposed amendments to the standard, the IASB decided to drop this comment in the final amendments.

Amendments

Amendments to IAS 16 Property, Plant and Equipment

The requirements of IAS 16 are amended to clarify that a depreciation method that is based on revenue that is generated by an activity that includes the use of an asset is not appropriate. This is because such methods reflects a pattern of generation of economic benefits that arise from the operation of the business of which an asset is part, rather than the pattern of consumption of an asset’s expected future economic benefits.

Amendments to IAS 38 Intangible Assets

The requirements of IAS 38 are amended to introduce a rebuttable presumption that a revenue-based amortisation method for intangible assets is inappropriate for the same reasons as in IAS 16. However, the IASB states that there are limited circumstances when the presumption can be overcome:

Amendments to both standards

Guidance is introduced into both standards to explain that expected future reductions in selling prices could be indicative of a higher rate of consumption of the future economic benefits embodied in an asset.

Dissenting Opinion

One IASB member dissented from the publication of the amendments. This Board member is concerned that the amendments do not fully resolve the issue originally raised with the IFRS Interpretations Committee and that the amendments are not sufficiently clear on what evidence is required to overcome the presumption that is being introduced into IAS 38.

Effective Date

The amendments are effective for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2016. Earlier application is permitted.

Additional information

Click for:

• IASB press release (link to IASB website)
• Our project page outlining the history of this project

The new members of the Committee are as follows:

• Carl Douglas, Corporate Controller, CCR Group (Brazil);
• Mikael Hagström, Head of Corporate Financial Reporting, Volvo Group (Sweden);
• Bruce Mackenzie, Managing Partner, W Consulting International (South Africa); and
• Bonnie Van Etten, Head of Fiat and Chrysler Group Global Technical Accounting and Accounting Research, Chrysler Group LLC (United States).

All appointments are for a three-year term, renewable once, and will commence on 1 July 2014.

In addition, Charlotte Pissaridou completes her term at the end of June 2014 and has been reappointed for a further three-year term.

Click for IFRS Foundation announcement (link to IASB website).

The agenda for the meeting (as at 12 May 2014*) is summarised below:

* The agenda was subsequently revised, details are available here.

Agenda papers for the meeting are available on the IASB's website.

The consultation contains a contents list for company annual reports and is intended to assist prepares of such reports.  The ICSA comment: 

This contents list has been compiled with the assistance of a number of experienced company secretaries from the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 and is intended to be a helpful starting point for companies to adapt to suit their specific circumstances.  It is primarily intended for UK listed companies but is useful for all companies. 

Comments on any aspects of the draft contents list are requested until 30 May 2014. 

The full consultation can be found on the ICSA website.

The Charity Commission identified 740 charities whose accounts reported a pension scheme deficit and then randomly selected 97 of those for a more detailed follow up.  

The review identified that all charities had complied with accounting standards by disclosing information about their pension scheme deficits in their accounts, based on actuarial advice.  However only 32% of the sample explained the financial implications of their deficits and how the trustees planned to deal with them in their annual reports.  The Charity Commission commented that the trustees of charities with significant deficits “missed the opportunity to demonstrate to donors and beneficiaries that they were tackling the problem appropriately”. 

The Charity Commission has used the results of the review to remind trustees of charities with defined benefit pension schemes that “they should have a clear, up to date, picture of their charity’s financial obligations and a plan to manage the likely future contribution increases”.  They further remind trustees that they “should use their charity’s annual report to explain how they are tackling the potentially serious risk of a pension scheme deficit”.

The press release and full report can be obtained from the Charity Commission website.

In February 2014 the GRI announced the launch of the first of four “Sector Disclosures” documents which transition G3 and G3.1 Sector Supplements to be compatible with G4.  The GRI has now launched six additional Sector Disclosures on airport operators, construction and real estate, event organisers, food processing, media and NGO.  All 10 G4 Sector Disclosures can be downloaded from the GRI website.

In addition, the GRI has announced a new GRI-CDP linkage document.  The publication; Linking GRI and CDP. How are GRI’s G4 Guidelines and CDP's Climate Change Questions Aligned? (link to GRI website) shows the alignment between the G4 Guidelines and CDP's 2014 Climate Change Information Request and "enables reporters to use or adapt the same data to both reporting formats".  Additional linkage documents were published in February 2014.

The press release and additional information can be accessed on the GRI website.

The IASB issued the amendments to IFRS 11 Joint Arrangements on 6 May 2014. They are effective for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2016, with earlier application being permitted. The updated status report indicates that final endorsement of the amendments for use in the European Union is currently expected in the first quarter of 2015.

The endorsement status report, dated 9 May 2014, is available here.

The session is open to observers from 14:15.  Please click link for details of the registration on the EFRAG website.  The agenda can also be downloaded from the EFRAG website.

Taxonomies are used when tagging accounts for electronic filing and for other analytical purposes. Electronic tagging helps users of financial information in corporate reports to extract the information they want and analyse it more efficiently. 

The XBRL accounts taxonomies have been updated by the FRC in line with a project it announced September 2013 and follow “a similar approach in content, design and style to the existing UK GAAP and IFRS taxonomies” with “design improvements”. 

The consultation seeks comments from “users, preparers and others” on three taxonomies to reflect full EU adopted IFRS and the new financial reporting standards for the UK and Ireland – FRS 101 and FRS 102.  

Following a period of consultation, the FRC indicates that “the proposed taxonomies may be modified in light of comments received before being issued in final form”. 

The FRC comments that “HMRC and Companies House are expected to adopt the taxonomies in due course”. 

Comments are invited until 8 July 2014. 

Click for:

• Press release (link to FRC website).
• XBRL Accounts Taxonomies – consultation paper (link to FRC website).
• FRC Accounts Taxonomies Design (link to FRC website).
• Our previous UK Accounting Plus news item.